Activision Sued for "Bro Culture"

California legislators sued video game developer Activision Blizzard recently, citing its "pervasive 'frat boy' culture" and mistreatment of women employees. Following a two-year investigation into the company (which you might know for making Call of Duty and World of Warcraft), the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) claims that female employees - who make up 20% of Activision Blizzard's workforce of about 9,500 - were routinely discriminated against. Women employees were underpaid, promoted "more slowly," and terminated "more quickly" than their male coworkers, the suit alleges. One complainant said her manager denied her a promotion, and when asked why, was told it was because "she might get pregnant and like being a mom too much."

The "underpaid" part especially stings considering Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick was the second-highest paid CEO in the S&P 500 last year, according to the AP. And despite a 50% pay cut, the FT reports he will make roughly the same amount this year due to equity payouts. 

Allegations of sexual discrimination included verbal and physical advances from male coworkers in the workplace. The suit details that one female employee died by suicide on a corporate trip after nude photos were leaked and shared among male colleagues who had previously harassed her. Activision's response? Denial on all fronts. The company told NPR, "The DFEH includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard's past," and insists the environment described "is not the Blizzard workplace of today."

The video game industry has a reputation for gender inequality and outright sexism in its games, gaming communities (remember Gamergate?), and even corporate headquarters. Along with Activision Blizzard, at least two other companies have come under fire over their workplace cultures.

Riot Games, makers of League of Legends and Valorant, was sued in 2018 over gender discrimination after a Kotaku report revealed its "bro culture." Riot Games, founded in 2006, has become one of the biggest companies in gaming on the back of its sole release, League of Legends, which had 100 million monthly players in 2016. With 2,500 employees across 20 offices, Riot is a powerhouse. In 2013, Riot was named one of Business Insider's 25 best tech companies to work for. Two years later, it made $1.6 billion in revenue. Its Los Angeles campus is cushy in the way you'd expect a money-bloated tech company's offices to be. It's got a gym, a coffee shop, a cafeteria with free food, and a LAN cafe. Employees often stay late to grind out competitive skill points in League of Legends with their Riot family and are communicating on Slack well into the night. Women who don't fit in with Riot's "bro culture" say these amenities help make the job bearable for only so long.

Ubisoft, maker of Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, was accused of rampant sexism and racism last summer. Several employees have already come forward publicly on Twitter to discuss harassment they endured at Ubisoft. A previous report from Kotaku pointed to top executives Tommy Francois and Maxime Beland, among others, as perpetrators of grossly over-the-line behavior, including one instance during which Beland allegedly put his hands around a female employee's neck.

In Bloomberg's story, current and former staffers say that employees have made repeated claims to HR for years. They describe Ubisoft as a boys club, where employees like Hascoet would hold business meetings at strip clubs. Women shared stories of managers telling them to smile more and making grossly inappropriate comments about their bodies, and colleagues who sent them explicit messages and videos. According to Bloomberg, employees repeatedly reported abusers like Beland and Francois to HR; Tommy Francois was subsequently fired after an investigation last year, and Beland resigned.